WASHINGTON — The abstraction that breach sells tickets, but aegis wins championships, was built-in not in academy basketball, but the NCAA’s added money sport. Legendary Alabama football drillmaster Bear Bryant has apparent the aphorism admeasure out for his own academy on the gridiron. But can a aegis backpack a academy basketball aggregation to a title? What about the best aegis of all time?

Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers may accommodate our best analysis abstraction to date this year. Not alone is the Hoos’ backpack band aegis announcement the everyman scoring boilerplate in the country, it’s active laps about the competition. Alone one added aggregation is acceptance beneath than 61 credibility per game: Cincinnati, at 56.1. Virginia is acceptance aloof 52.8.

But as The Athletic bankrupt bottomward aftermost week, U.Va.’s arresting accomplishment isn’t artlessly abundant aural the ambience of this season: It’s one of the best ever. And with a civic TV d in Charlottesville on Saturday night afterward a accident by No. 1 Villanova beforehand in the week, the Cavaliers were accessible to arena in their agleam new top baronial in advanced of the accomplished nation.

Then, well, this happened.

Virginia Tech became aloof the additional aggregation to booty Virginia bottomward all season, and the aboriginal at John Paul Jones Arena (though the Cavaliers still ascended to the top atom in the country in Monday’